The new long-term care facility will be connected to the La Ronge Health Centre. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

health care

New long-term care facility in La Ronge will require 137 additional staff

Jan 10, 2023 | 2:31 PM

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) will need to hire 145 additional staff in La Ronge by the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year.

“The additional staff were primarily for the new long-term care facility the authority expects to begin constructing this spring,” an email from the office of the provincial auditor to larongeNOW states.

“For this new facility, the authority expected to need an additional 137 staff – all nursing positions (i.e., approximately 103 continuing care assistants, 18 licensed practical nurses and 16 registered nurses). The remaining eight additional staff (all continuing care assistants) were for an emergency room initiative in La Ronge.”

According to the auditor’s report, as of March 2022, the SHA anticipates over 2,000 staff shortages in hard-to-recruit positions across the province over the next five years, which includes about 840 continuing care assistants, 520 registered nurses, and 180 medical laboratory technicians.

However, the SHA’s staffing gap analysis does not specifically identify which facilities or locations in the province will experience the largest shortages. An analysis by the provincial auditor found the SHA expects to need 700 staff alone in Prince Albert, Meadow Lake and La Ronge over the next five years.

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In October 2022, the provincial government announced construction of the new long-term care facility in La Ronge will begin this spring. It will consists of a three-storey, two-wing building designed for 80 resident rooms, and includes kitchen and living areas, tub rooms and family rooms, a traditional healing space, a serenity room, and a commercial kitchen. Home care will include wound care, dental, and podiatry suites.

This project also includes renovating the existing 16-bed facility to provide increased La Ronge Health Centre space and improve several program areas, including home care, therapies, an adult day program, and a new hemodialysis unit. The new long-term care facility will be built adjacent to and connected to the existing hospital, which will remain open during the renovation work.

In an effort to find enough health staff for positions throughout the province, some new initiatives the SHA is undertaking include international recruitment of 150 staff from the Philippines, and working with the post-secondary sector to increase the number of certified candidates graduating from nursing programs each year.

In order to find enough staff, the provincial auditor found the SHA needs to implement and monitor the success of targeted plans to fill hard-to-recruit positions with significant gaps. It will need to determine the optimal supply of new graduates to help address staffing shortfalls and whether post-secondary training seats purchased out of province are a successful recruitment strategy. A First Nations and Métis recruitment and retention plan will also need to be established.

The auditor also recommends centrally analyzing results from staff exit interviews and assess whether student clinical placements are a successful recruitment strategy for hard-to-recruit positions.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno